The Irish

and there it is

good luck with that petition of concern u speak of

Meanwhile

POLL: Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks
(May 6, MoE 3%)

Sinn Féin 34 (+1 in four weeks)
Fine Gael 23 (+1)
Fianna Fáil 16 (-2)
Soc Dems 4 (-2)
Labour 4
Greens 4 (+1)
PBP-Solidarity 3 (+1)
Aontú 3
Inds/others 8 (-2) https://t.co/Zkok403wsH

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) May 7, 2022

This is true.

there's lots of heavy breathing about Sinn Fein, but none of it gives me any idea of what SF will do in power on either side of the border

— jamie k (@jkbloodtreasure) May 7, 2022

nobody cares about the opinions of English people, sorry now

Don't be sorry, will keep linking British opinions or otherwise if I like it.

Whenever a woman is successful, this is is what they do. Absolutely sick and tired of this shite. pic.twitter.com/aw7ZA7uXmP

— Maggie Moo Mar (@Midge1415) May 8, 2022

Coverage of this latest electoral outcome has demonstrated something: large parts of NI, and also the BBC, are content to consider nationalists as politically invalid and not people who have a right to political participation.

A republican party wins by far the highest share of the vote. In a democracy this would have consequences. The actual consequences from Unionism and the BBC seem to be: we'll ignore these people and not conduct politics anymore, and mainly talk about why they are bad and should never be allowed to participate in society.

that is not too far from what happened in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Irish_general_election

Agreed.

R4's election coverage included interviewing two people whose parents got taken out by the RA during The Troubles. very impartial lads, and not at all inflammatory/unhelpful.

In so far as there's progress, the DUP has publicly said that the issue with supporting a national executive is the Northern Ireland Protocol rather than the concept of a Sinn Fein first minister, with some apparently accepting that "the people have spoken" - obviously I'd be wary of considering the DUP of operating in any kind of good faith, but it is noticeable that they're not throwing that particular toy out of the pram.

that is not too far from what happened in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Irish_general_election🕸

Pretty soon this will all pass and the English media and public can go back to their default position of ignoring all those ka-rrrrrrazy people somewhere over there across the Irish Sea.

Andrew F: this seems true. So, we have a Brexit deal, which secured the current powerful UK government, which apparently means that the NI Assembly cannot exist.

I won't say that no-one pointed this out before (lots of people pointed out lots of bad things about Brexit all along), but it appears that the UK state now rests on a basic incoherence, which the current UK PM happily created and went along with and little of the British media (perhaps unlike the Irish) cared to mention.

Calzino: yes, I heard this report. It was extraordinary. Like being back in about 1987.

I started to wonder: if we're going to ban popular political parties from taking office because their historical associates have killed people, maybe we'll have to extend that to the Con Party and, come to think of it, the Labour Party. Not to mention the DUP, who were oddly not mentioned in this connection by Radio 4 and are now seemingly seen as responsible, sensible people.

Jerry: We only need to be lucky once!
George: She's gotta be lucky every time, Jerry! Every time! https://t.co/YKnhX6dAst

— brandon (@BrandyBeansH) May 10, 2022

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FT7ctcTX0AAu_2w?format=jpg&name=small
as an avid player of the Irish Daily Millions lottery game I just thought I'd share this fantastic pic from their site, because it cracks me up and I felt like it was very important to make a record of it before it disappears.

Incredible

"I would strongly encourage the Irish tea sock..." pic.twitter.com/zQAuShsbzM

— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) June 13, 2022

ludicrous, everyone knows it’s pronounced tea sack

even i'm passable at it now, i'm told

As ever, it's so easy to pick up on the disdain for the very existence of Ireland as a separate nation from British politicians. I doubt that will ever change.

Huge if true🤯 pic.twitter.com/UWnLxxFoZU

— Ógra Shinn Féin (@Ogra_SF) August 14, 2022

potato crop failing in england… well well well https://t.co/giunrKcCkv

— caoimhe (@scorpiophobic) August 12, 2022

https://www.potatonewstoday.com/2022/08/11/ifa-potato-crops-shutting-down-in-ireland-ongoing-drought-reducing-yields-in-europe/

(and that's the first result from Googling 'Ireland drought 2022')

I guess these posts make sense in the alternative reality where Ireland starved the UK by exporting their staple crop in a time of failure. Ofc even with this drought we are one of the world’s most food secure countries. We’ll be fine.

Yeah so anyway

Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland for first time since its creation https://t.co/qw5L4dcMGS

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 22, 2022

The state of Northern Ireland was established with the intent of maintaining a pro-British Protestant majority as a counterweight to the newly independent and predominantly Catholic Irish state to the south.

You would assume everyone would know that but you can never underestimate how little the English know or care about anything other than English history.

Which reminds me, I only found out a few days ago that Edward Carson was given a state funeral, the next non-royal to receive one after him as Churchill and there hasn't been another since.

Britain gave him a state funeral, which took place in Belfast at St Anne's Cathedral; he is still the only person to have been buried there. From a silver bowl, soil from each of the six counties of Northern Ireland was scattered on to his coffin, which had earlier been covered by the Union Flag, which however was removed during the service.

was Churchill ffs

Bono’s claims the IRA targeted the U2 frontman is ‘news to me’, says Gerry Adams https://t.co/FCrrOhxzpm

— Independent.ie (@Independent_ie) October 25, 2022

Mr Adams added that while he’s an admirer of the work that Bono has done in highlighting issues of social injustice around the world, his “commentary on the conflict here was shrill, ill-informed and unhelpful”.

“However, you weren’t on your own,” he said.

“You echoed the Irish establishment line. It was the wrong line for decades. A failure of governance and the abandonment of responsibility to lead a process of peace and justice.

“Thankfully that changed. But it took a long time. Despite this some of us got through it all. With or without you.”

Class.

That time Bono chewed out a fan for bringing a Sinn Féin sign that was actually a San Francisco sign pic.twitter.com/i7QMeo8w41

— Dean Van Nguyen (@deanvannguyen) December 22, 2016

LOL what a tool

I watched a bit of Graham Norton the other night with him on it. Twice Graham tried to get him to tell an amusing anecdote from his book, and both times he either could not or would not just face the audience and tell the story. He squirmed around trying to be chummy with Taylor Swift (who was visibly trying to keep her distance from him while still being polite) and then when he told the stories I thought, is that it? That's not a story at all! There's nothing there! Is the whole book like this? Not that I was going to buy it anyway, but if it had been great I might've borrowed it from someone.

Imagine being Irish and not being able to tell a good story. They should take your passport.

He could have told the story about the Orangemen chasing him through a posh suburban part of Dublin when he was a kid, yelling "get the Catholic!". for the sake of younger viewers, Bongo was one of the most world famous performing clowns of the 80's.

read two chapters of his book at work and I liked it. the chapters on 'one' and 'with or without you' he seemed p self aware in the book or maybe that's an act. quite sweet but not cloying stuff about his wife.

then again there are a lot of days where Joshua Tree is my favourite album ever so I cut all of U2 a lot of slack.

Maybe he just needs to get someone else to go out and sell it for him.

don't worry Oscar I can beat you here for reading shit celeb biographies. My mum bought the Bob Geldof one in the 80's and I read it cover to cover, lol

He's a very good talker and a relatively good writer, in a way that seems particular to some (not all; maybe just a minority) Irish people. Heaney was a relevant comparison.

His TV performance sounds odd though.

I would read the book but I suspect that somehow it will undermine and ironise the music, which is not what it needs.

The Sinn Francisco gig moment was dire. It's OK for Bono to say 'I do embarrassing things' but in that particular case he also attacked someone else who didn't deserve it.

Ah yes, the Bob Geldof book. The Gideon Bible of late Eighties Irish homes.

I would imagine the Bono book is more intelligent and better written than most rock star autobiogs, he is still a tit though.

It was written with more ties to intelligence.

Heaney was a relevant comparison.

BREAKING: Former British soldier David Holden (52) found guilty of manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie in Tyrone 34 years ago. He’s the first British veteran to be convicted of a historical offence in Northern Ireland since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. pic.twitter.com/e5k5cGLn6C

— David Blevins (@skydavidblevins) November 25, 2022

Liberals will tell you there's no invasion. You're not being replaced. Open your eyes! pic.twitter.com/I5g4kfcf2b

— Joe (@JoePostingg) November 29, 2022

Happy birthday baby

Today is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Irish Free State, the direct precursor to what is now known as (the Republic of) Ireland, and the date to which Ireland as an independent country is dated.

Making it also 100 years since the UK lost ~30% of its territory.

— Chris Barrett-Molloy (@cr15b) December 6, 2022

Good.

Is there a lot of stuff happening in Ireland to mark the occasion?